About

The Jim and Elizabeth Whatley Center for the Performing Arts, completed in the fall of 1991, features a theatre with modern, instructional stage and seating for 570. The lobby area doubles as an art gallery for student and visiting art shows and the building includes theatre and music classrooms.

The mission of The Jim and Elizabeth Whatley Center for the Performing Arts is to serve as the cultural hub and the fine and performing arts higher education center for Northeast Texas. The Center provides facilities for instructing students in broadly-based fine and performing arts, and for enriching lives through a greater understanding and appreciation of a variety of art forms and ideas. Working cooperatively with area arts councils and other community organizations, the Center strives to make the arts and other public presentations accessible to persons of all ages by hosting affordable and appropriate programs. Through a broad spectrum of cultural, educational, and public affairs programming, the Center serves as a beacon to enhance a lifelong appreciation and understanding of the fine and performing arts.